


At A Time, In A Place (Relativity)

by Jayne L (JayneL)



Category: Being Erica
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, yuletidemadness2009
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-19
Updated: 2009-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-04 14:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayneL/pseuds/Jayne%20L
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A 'Being Doctor Tom' coda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At A Time, In A Place (Relativity)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [a tattered rose (atr)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atr/gifts).



> Thanks to my lovely betas, [akamarykate](http://akamarykate.livejournal.com) and [naturelf](http://naturelf.livejournal.com), who helped me immensely.

Naadiah finds Tom where she knew she would: Yorkville Park, the corner of Sugar Street, the last day he saw Sarah. He sent Erica home a while ago; the sunny afternoon has since faded into an overcast evening, and both Sarah and her father are long gone.

"There are rules," he says casually, restating a fact well-known to both of them. "We can't save someone's life; we can't...make someone stay. I accepted that so quickly. So easily." He pauses. When he speaks again, it's with simple resignation. "I never asked to go back to try to make Sarah stay."

"You couldn't have made her stay," is Naadiah's mild reply. "It was her choice to leave. You know that."

"Yes, I do. But, Naadiah--" He exhales. She can't quite call it a sigh. "I never even **asked**."

"All right. Why not?"

"Because I was afraid," comes the immediate response. "Of doing the wrong thing, of making things worse. Of making things **better** and finding out it wouldn't've changed anything." There's a restless note in his voice; nevertheless, he stands perfectly still, his gaze fixed on the empty courtyard ahead. "When it came to her brother, Erica just **acted**, and that...shamed me. Because when it came to Sarah, I didn't even question. Because I was afraid."

"Are you afraid now?"

"Yes." He sounds certain; then, thoughtfully, he adds, "But not of the same things."

"_Fear,_" Naadiah says, watching a lone skateboarder circumnavigate the boulder that serves as the courtyard's centrepiece. "_Fear is the correct answer._ David Kemper."

"I thought fear was the mind-killer."

Sarcasm drenches his tone; her answer is bone dry. "_Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes._ Walt Whitman."

He cuts her a look--but there's good humour in his eyes, and he hums the way he does when he's laughing at himself as much as anything else, and Naadiah's satisfied.

She's about to leave him to his thoughts when he speaks again, stopping her. "Naadiah, do you know what happened to Sarah?" For the first time, he turns to look directly at her, the faintest hint of a smile twitching the corners of his mouth. "Or is that a closed door."

He hadn't even put the day Sarah left on his list. At the time, Naadiah had let it pass; after all, his list was more than long enough already. But now, as she searches his expression and finds the fresh regret of his behaviour with Erica shining in his eyes, she thinks it might be time for them to plumb the depths behind it. "It is for you."

He blinks. And nods, and turns to look again out at the courtyard, shoulders straight, head held high. The very picture of tranquil acceptance.

And Naadiah leaves him there, knowing they'll both be back.

 

End.


End file.
